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2025 Beach Renourishment Frequently Asked Questions

Renourishment replaces sand lost to natural erosion and maintains a wide beach to ensure the health of our shoreline.

A wider beach safeguards a natural environment for the endangered sea turtles and sea birds, and provides extended storm protection for oceanfront homes, villas and businesses. It also allows beach-goers to spread out, ride bikes and bask in the sun.

Hilton Head Island is the second largest barrier island on the East Coast, and most beach erosion is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Geologically, the Island is a "transgressive" relic coastal barrier that has migrated landward over the last several centuries. Controlled by forces of the Port Royal and Calibogue Sound, beach sand moves from the center of the Island toward its ends. The daily ebb and flow of water continually shapes the shoreline.

The proposed project will include sand placement along 46,500 feet (8.8 miles) of Atlantic Ocean and Port Royal Sound shorefront and will include five discrete reaches of the island shorefront:

  1. South Beach / South Island - The southern Atlantic Ocean shoreline of the island.
  2. Central Island - The central portion of Atlantic Ocean shoreline of the island.
  3. The Heel - Tthe northeast point of the island at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and Port Royal Sound shoreline.
  4. Fish Haul Creek - On the Port Royal Sound shoreline near Fish Haul Beach Park.
  5. Pine Island - The Port Royal Sound shoreline of Hilton Head Plantation between Dolphin Head and Pine Island.

The areas will further be divided into approximately 1,000-foot sections that will be under construction at a time.

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Most beach-goers will not notice the construction.

  • Beach Renourishment will take place in an approximately 1,000-foot active site along the shoreline, meaning only 2 percent of the beach will be affected at a time.
  • The active site will be restricted during construction, but temporary beach access ramps and clear signage will direct beach-goers to open areas of the beach.
  • As soon as an active site is completed, the equipment will move down the beach and the newly renourished section will open.
  • The newly placed sand will at first appear dark, as dredging picks up small amounts of shell and mud with the sand. Within a few days, the sun will turn the beach sand as light as it was before the project.

The project is supported by the Town of Hilton Head Island's ongoing beach management program, which is funded through a portion of accommodation tax dollars.

Before the project begins, coastal engineers conduct a sand search to locate a grade of sand that approximates the same size, color and texture of the existing beach. The shoreline is also evaluated and sand is placed to make up for erosion lost from previous years.

The new sand will be excavated by hydraulic dredge from up to four offshore sites located within Barrett Shoals (2 sites), Gaskin Banks, and Bay Point Shoals. The dredge will move sand through miles of submerged and floating pipeline, from the ocean floor to the beach. After the mixture of sand and seawater makes it to shore, the water runs back out into the ocean, and bulldozers and other construction machinery construct the elevation and form of the beach with new sand.

Construction will take place 24 hours a day in a continuous active site in 1,000 foot increments along the shoreline, meaning only 2 percent of the beach will be affected at a time. The small, active site will be restricted during construction, but temporary beach access ramps and clear signage will direct beach-goers to open areas of the beach. As soon as a section is completed, the equipment will move down the beach and the newly, renourished section will open.

The newly placed sand will at first appear dark, as dredging picks up small amounts of shell and mud with the sand. Within a few days, the sun will turn the beach sand as light as it was before the project.

Some oceanfront properties may see construction for several days,

Noise from bulldozers may be heard, and adjacent properties may experience short-term, minor inconveniences.

The renourishment requires a dredge, a booster pump, many miles of pipeline, and attendant tug boats and barges, bulldozers, survey equipment and support vessels.

The proposed project will include the placement of approximately 2.2 million cubic yards of beach compatible sand from up to four offshore borrow areas along about 46,500 feet of Atlantic Ocean and Port Royal Sound shorefront, broken into five discrete reaches of the island shorefront:

  1. South Beach / South Island - Approximately 750,000 cubic yards of sand along approximately 10,230 feet of the southern Atlantic Ocean shoreline.
  2. Central Island - Approximately 700,000 cubic yards along 28,860 feet of Atlantic Ocean shoreline.
  3. The Heel - Approximately 500,000 cubic yards of sand along 5,280 feet at the northeast point of the island at the intersection of the Atlantic Ocean and Port Royal Sound shoreline.
  4. Fish Haul Creek - Approximately 50,000 cubic yards of sand along about 2,130 feet of Port Royal Sound shoreline.
  5. Pine Island - Approximately 180,000 cubic yards of beach compatible sand and construction of six rock breakwaters on the Port Royal Sound shoreline of Hilton Head Plantation between Dolphin Head and Pine Island.

This will be Hilton Head Island's fifth large-scale beach renourishment since the original project in 1990.

A beach renourishment is necessary every seven to 10 years, depending on weather conditions and storms.

Beach renourishment is an ongoing process.

  • There are 52 beach monitoring stations that the Town of Hilton Head Island maintains to observe sand from recent beach renourishment projects
  • Aerial photos are taken annually to monitor how the coastline changes.

The American Coastal Coalition named Hilton Head Island the Top Restored Beach for 2003, recognizing our project "has proven itself over a significant period of time."


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